21 June 2013

Genesis 2:18-25

While I was still a closeted lesbian beginning to
prepare for an LDS mission, I spoke with one of the missionaries I knew while I
was still an investigator of the Church. I asked him how he approached the
subject of homosexuality; especially with openly gay investigators. He told me
that he would welcome them with love, but would still teach the doctrine of the
Law of Chastity; that while sexual orientation itself is not sinful, all
homosexual activity is, and that for
any gay or lesbian person desiring to be baptized, and continue as a member in
good standing, they would need to live a celibate lifestyle, or be engaged in a
heterosexual relationship.

I am grateful that I have never had to teach someone
that principle of doctrine. It simply would be too painful.

Think about this for a minute. The Church has a
single standard of morality that all members are to follow; abstinence from all
sexual relationships prior to marriage with a person of the opposite sex. If a
same-sex attracted individual was to follow that council, and cannot honestly
engage in a heterosexual marriage relationship, then celibacy is the only way for
them to continue their mortal and spiritual progression. They are as a result,
companionless and alone.

But according to Genesis 2:18, it is not good for
man to be alone. How can this be?

In the Garden of Eden, Adam lived in a perfect
world. He possessed everything. He was in charge of the Garden of Eden, a
manager of sorts. And Adam was “with God” He walked and talked with God through
the Garden. He was not alone.

So when God proclaimed in Genesis 2:18 that it was
not good for man to be alone, Adam must have been confused. After all, Adam was
not alone! He was with God. How can someone be with God, and be alone at the
same time? Adam must have wondered as well.

After Adam was told that it was not good to be
alone, God creates the animals (Gen. 2:19). He brings them to Adam to be named.
It is here (Gen. 2:20) that Adam realizes that there is no one “like him”, and
for the first time, Adam feels alone. When Adam and Eve are presented to one
another as companions (Gen. 2:23), Adam reacted with delight. This is
illustrated by his statement, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh.” Adam’s statement is wonderfully symbolic of the closeness and intimacy
he felt with Eve.

Intimacy is God’s remedy to human aloneness.
Intimacy replaced that sense of incompleteness and disconnectedness. It is not
until after the Fall, that Adam and Eve would feel this aloneness again.

Many members of the Church shoot my argument down
straight at the beginning, by saying, “God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and
Steve.” And that is true, in a very literal interpretation. Hell, I even
supported their argument by showing the amount of love, and closeness that Adam
felt for Eve. That’s because Eve was suitable
for Adam, and Adam was suitable for
Eve.

Remember that these events are still before the
Fall, before Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden by eating the forbidden
fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil. So it is fair to say that they could not
have experienced same-sex attraction, for they knew not pain or affliction. And
for anyone who has experienced homosexual feelings, knows all too well the
pain, anguish, and despair it causes.

Let’s look at what the word “help meet” means. In
Genesis 2:18, God says He will make a help meet for Adam. In Hebrew, “help
meet” translates to ‘ezer kanegdo. ‘Ezer translates to “aid”. Kanegdo traditionally translates to
“meet for”, “fit for”, or “worthy of”. God gave Adam a help meet, someone who
was suited to him, someone who was worthy to be with him.

Genesis 2:18-25, shows the importance that God gives
to committed relationships. For a heterosexual, the only suitable companion is
someone of the opposite gender. For a homosexual, the only suitable companion
is someone of the same gender. To say that gays and lesbians should not form
committed, intimate relationships is to say that it is good for (some) people
to remain alone.

If it was not sufficient for Adam to be alone, in a
perfect state of being, then why is it sufficient for those of us, who live in
a fallen and forsaken world, who experience same-sex attraction? When religious
doctrine dictates that such individuals must choose to enter into a
heterosexual relationship, or remain celibate, is that doctrine not saying that
it is good for such human beings to be alone? To lack the sort of intimacy with
another human being Genesis 2:18 says is good? I humbly suggest, that the Bible correctly states that it is not good for men and women to be alone... regardless of race, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

5 comments:

I like your observation and am adding it to my own studies of the condemning passages in scriptures.

I thought this comment was interesting, although I would imagine that SSA in the garden of Eden wouldn't have the shame and guilt associated with it because know one

So it's fair to say that they could not have experienced same-sex attraction, for they knew not pain or affliction. And for anyone who has experienced homosexual feelings, knows all too well the pain, anguish, and despair it causes."

It does seem cruel to expect that, doesn't it? I'm 31, straight and single, and it may be that I have to be alone and celibate my whole life, I don't know. But at least I have the hope that I might meet someone and get married one day. Maybe someday soon. I have not been asked to knowingly or purposely forego intimacy and companionship for the rest of my life. It seems like too much to ask.